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Healthcare providers in Tennessee: counts by specialty
How many healthcare providers work in Tennessee? The federal NPPES registry listed 157,855 active NPIs with a practice address in the state as of the June 2026 snapshot, the 19th largest workforce among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The single largest specialty is Family Nurse Practitioner, and Nashville is the city with the most records. The table below lists the 30 specialties with the most active providers and the share each one holds.
The 30 largest specialties in Tennessee
| # | Specialty (primary taxonomy) | Active NPIs | % of state |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Family Nurse Practitioner | 9,360 | 5.9% |
| 2 | Pharmacist | 7,237 | 4.6% |
| 3 | Physical Therapist | 5,905 | 3.7% |
| 4 | Behavior Technician | 5,310 | 3.4% |
| 5 | Mental Health Counselor | 4,964 | 3.1% |
| 6 | Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program | 4,914 | 3.1% |
| 7 | Speech-Language Pathologist | 3,909 | 2.5% |
| 8 | Family Medicine Physician | 3,863 | 2.4% |
| 9 | Clinical Social Worker | 3,514 | 2.2% |
| 10 | Case Manager/Care Coordinator | 3,457 | 2.2% |
| 11 | Internal Medicine Physician | 3,403 | 2.2% |
| 12 | Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist | 3,240 | 2.1% |
| 13 | Registered Nurse | 3,178 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Physician Assistant | 3,081 | 2.0% |
| 15 | General Practice Dentistry | 2,810 | 1.8% |
| 16 | Nurse Practitioner | 2,507 | 1.6% |
| 17 | Occupational Therapist | 2,440 | 1.5% |
| 18 | Professional Counselor | 2,359 | 1.5% |
| 19 | Chiropractor | 2,322 | 1.5% |
| 20 | Social Worker | 2,031 | 1.3% |
| 21 | Dentist | 1,969 | 1.2% |
| 22 | Optometrist | 1,942 | 1.2% |
| 23 | Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner | 1,744 | 1.1% |
| 24 | Behavior Analyst | 1,722 | 1.1% |
| 25 | Physical Therapy Assistant | 1,687 | 1.1% |
| 26 | Counselor | 1,637 | 1.0% |
| 27 | Pediatrics Physician | 1,463 | 0.9% |
| 28 | Emergency Medicine Physician | 1,438 | 0.9% |
| 29 | Specialist | 1,367 | 0.9% |
| 30 | Community/Retail Pharmacy | 1,337 | 0.8% |
What the numbers show
Family Nurse Practitioner leads with 9,360 active records, 5.9% of everything the state has, or 1.3 times the volume of Pharmacist, the runner up at 7,237. Physical Therapist rounds out the podium with 5,905. Together, the top 5 specialties account for 20.8% of Tennessee's providers, and the 30 listed in the table cover 60.9% of the total. Overall, the state registry splits into 741 distinct taxonomies.
Geographically, active NPIs spread across 649 cities and towns in the state, but with heavy concentration: Nashville (27,824), Memphis (16,691) and Knoxville (16,677) post the largest volumes. Tennessee holds 1.7% of all active US providers registered across the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Source and method
Data: NPPES Data Dissemination file (National Plan and Provider Enumeration System), published by CMS as public domain data, snapshot of June 2026. Each provider is counted once, in the state and city of the Provider Business Practice Location, under the primary taxonomy declared in the NPI record itself. Only active NPI records are counted.
Important: an active NPI does not mean the professional is currently practicing, accepting new patients or even still working in the field; it only means the registration number remains valid. This page publishes aggregate counts only, never individual records.
Last updated: · Methodology and sources